Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

I had no idea he was this far into the process of heading to the slammer! Great news for South Florida!!
1 posted on 08/25/2003 7:55:19 PM PDT by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]


To: summer; Ragtime Cowgirl; All
Tell me, please, who has the FL ping list?
2 posted on 08/25/2003 7:58:05 PM PDT by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL (...where even the mosquitoes use bug spray.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
They shouldn't have given ANY deals...

This is just one of the many reasons our kids are illiterate..!!!

D

3 posted on 08/25/2003 7:58:22 PM PDT by Pee_Oui
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL

Pat Tornillo is President of the United Teachers of Dade, President of the Florida Education Association/United and Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers. Tornillo is recognized nationally for his progressive and innovative leadership in the professionalization of teaching and educational reform in Dade County. As chief negotiator for Dade County's teachers since 1963, Tornillo has made UTD bargaining unit members among the highest paid teachers in the nation. He has also negotiated into the contract numerous benefits and professional initiatives that have given Dade County teachers a multitude of opportunities for growth and professionalism.

http://www.turnexchange.net/leaders/tornillo.htm

Patriot Paradox

4 posted on 08/25/2003 7:59:13 PM PDT by sonsofliberty2000 (The Patriot Paradox: Life, Liberty and Everything Else...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL

5 posted on 08/25/2003 7:59:17 PM PDT by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL (...where even the mosquitoes use bug spray.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
What role did this sleazeball play in the 2000 election debacle? He must have been involved somehow.
8 posted on 08/25/2003 8:13:32 PM PDT by Timesink
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
Does Druce have any cousins in Florida?
10 posted on 08/25/2003 8:20:22 PM PDT by Bogey78O (The Clinton's have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured/killed -Peach)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
Now, this is a good thing in two ways. A crimminal is in jail, and the democrats are out $650,000 bucks.
It's a win/win situation.
11 posted on 08/25/2003 8:20:31 PM PDT by concerned about politics (Lucifer lefties are still stuck at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
You want funny? I'm pretty sure tornillo means "screw" in Spanish....heh heh
13 posted on 08/25/2003 8:22:31 PM PDT by manic4organic (An organic conservative)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
Tornillo is recognized nationally for his progressive and innovative leadership

Sheesh! What ever you do, I suggest you don't follow THIS guy anywhere. Vote conservative! Vote conservative!

14 posted on 08/25/2003 8:24:00 PM PDT by concerned about politics (Lucifer lefties are still stuck at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
I'd do two years for six hundred fifty grand, as long as I got to keep the money.
15 posted on 08/25/2003 8:25:07 PM PDT by squidly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
Was lavish life built on backs of teachers'?
That's the question being asked of union leader Pat Tornillo as prosecutors look into his spending.
By ANITA KUMAR, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 7, 2003





Even now, as federal agents pore over the financial records they seized from his union headquarters in Miami, Pat Tornillo remains a legend among Florida teachers.

He led the nation's first statewide teachers' strike, a bitter walkout that kept 1-million Florida children out of school but gave public employees the right to bargain collectively.

He built the largest labor union in the South, securing higher pay for teachers who paid him millions of dollars in dues - money he used to help elect dozens of Democrats to public office.

But the 77-year-old Tornillo now faces the biggest battle of his life. Federal agents are investigating whether he also used teacher dues to finance a lavish lifestyle for himself and his wife.

Former employees say he charged the Miami-Dade teachers union for $2,000-a-night hotel suites and trips to Europe and the Far East. According to published reports, he used his union credit card to buy tailored suits in Hong Kong, jewelry in California and python-print pajamas from Neiman-Marcus. He is even accused of using union dues to pay his maid.

Tornillo and his wife, Donna, also own property around the state valued at more than $1-million. Their most recent purchase: a $300,000 home under construction in an affluent Tallahassee neighborhood.

Tornillo, an old-style union boss known for his loud voice and combative tactics, is mostly silent these days.

"I have a personal battle to fight," he said in his only public statement since the federal raid in late April. "I am determined to win that fight and clear my name. The press, however, is not the forum for that fight."

Those familiar with his 40-year career see what's happening as a tragedy.

"He was the primary voice for public education in Florida," said Rob McMahon, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association and a Tornillo acquaintance for two decades. "It's a shame to see this kind of scandal at the end of his career."

The godfather
Tornillo's critics - and he has many - describe him as ego-driven, antagonistic and destructive to public education. He has been called Fidel Castro, the godfather and president for life.

But one of the things raising hackles now is timing. According to the Miami Herald, which has outlined his alleged offenses in considerable detail, Tornillo's spending became particularly egregious even as teachers were facing pay cuts or trying to avoid layoffs.

During a recent 30-month period, Tornillo and his wife charged an estimated $350,000 to the United Teachers of Dade, reported the Herald, which said it inspected Tornillo's credit card statements, union checks and financial records.

The spree came on top of the $243,000 salary Tornillo received annually as union president. He is now on unpaid suspension.

Gary Landry, who was hired by Tornillo to work for the state union, said he questioned the spending and told Tornillo it was raising eyebrows.

"There is so much extravagance and waste," said Landry, who now works for the James Madison Institute, a conservative think tank in Tallahassee. "I always thought it was wrong. If I were a teacher paying dues I would say, "Why do I support this?' "

Tornillo's friends point to his work on behalf of Florida teachers.

He came to Florida from New Jersey in 1956, after doctors insisted on a warmer climate for his oldest son, who had rheumatic fever. He started teaching that year, joining the Dade County Classroom Teachers Association.

Tornillo was soon running the union, which he led for four decades. Until three years ago, he also ran a state teacher's union, the Florida Education Association/United.

In 1968, Tornillo led 35,000 teachers on a statewide strike. He was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to jail for instigating the walkout, which lasted three weeks. The case was appealed and he never did any time, though educators and many parents considered him the enemy. Some teachers never got their jobs back.

As a result of the strike, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that teachers and other public employees have the right to bargain collectively with management over wages, hours and working conditions.

"Young schoolteachers don't know about history," said G. Holmes Braddock, who served on the Miami-Dade County School Board for 38 years. "There's no question they are getting several thousands of dollars more a year because of Pat."

Tornillo also was a political force. Over the years, he helped elect dozens of Democrats to local and statewide office. In 1998, he was honored by 1,000 people at a $100-per-person banquet organized in part by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles.

But Tornillo's political power waned in recent years as Republicans took control of the Governor's Mansion and the Legislature. Conservative leaders want programs that unions consider a threat to public education: taxpayer-financed vouchers for private schools, charter schools run by private groups with public money.

And then came the raid.

Rich and famous
On April 29, federal agents walked into the union's new $20-million headquarters on Biscayne Boulevard and seized boxes of financial records. They took Tornillo's appointment calendar, expense reports, reimbursement forms, bills, receipts, credit card statements and union payment records.

Among the records: receipts for a $10,200 trip to St. Barts and other Caribbean islands, a $4,158 shopping spree in New York City and a $1,032 tab at a Robert Talbott clothing store in Carmel, Calif., according to the Herald.

"It was quite shocking to hear," said Lois Frankel, a former Democratic leader of the state House and now mayor of West Palm Beach. "Pat Tornillo has been an institution. If the allegations are true, it's obviously very disappointing."

Others say Tornillo is getting what he deserves.

"He was leading the lifestyle of the rich and famous," said Damaris Daugherty, a Miami lawyer who founded the Teacher Rights Advocacy Coalition, which is looking to replace Tornillo's union. "Teachers' benefits continued to erode while he and his friends made millions of dollars."

According to property records, Tornillo owns two homes on St. George Island in the Panhandle, including a 3,000-square-foot beachfront house with a dune walkover. He also owns a townhouse in Tallahassee and is constructing another house in that city's Hermitage subdivision, home to some of the city's most prominent residents.

Miami lawyer Thomas Spencer is representing David J. Albaum, the union's former financial consultant, who is cooperating with federal agents. Spencer said union officials knew about the properties, which he thinks are part of the federal investigation.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said agents know he has several properties, but would not comment on the investigation.

Ron Sachs, who has talked to Tornillo several times since the raid, said his longtime friend is intent on clearing his name.

"Obviously he's concerned about this," said Sachs, a media consultant who also worked as Chiles' communications director. "It's the most important fight of his life."

- Times staff writers Lucy Morgan and Julie Hauserman, and researchers Cathy Wos, Deirdre Morrow and Aakash Patel contributed to this report.

Lavish spending
Federal investigators are trying to determine whether Pat Tornillo, the longtime head of Miami-Dade County's teacher union and one of Florida's most prominent labor leaders, used union dues to support a lavish lifestyle. Below are some of the estimated $350,000 in expenses Tornillo and his wife charged to the United Teachers of Dade during a 30-month period:

* $20,138 for an eight-night stay at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Miami.

* $1,441 for tailored suits while traveling in Hong Kong.

* $3,900 for a necklace and gold ring in Carmel, Calif.

* $175 for a pair of python-print pajamas from a Neiman Marcus catalog.

* $1,339 at two art galleries in Queenstown, New Zealand.

- Source: Miami Herald
21 posted on 08/25/2003 8:41:19 PM PDT by sonsofliberty2000 (The Patriot Paradox: Life, Liberty and Everything Else...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
You're not going to believe this!!
26 posted on 08/25/2003 8:55:48 PM PDT by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL (...where even the mosquitoes use bug spray.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
But I thought teachers' unions were all about "the children." I'm shocked.
36 posted on 08/26/2003 3:57:55 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
Any mention of restitution plus interest?
42 posted on 08/26/2003 10:09:13 AM PDT by OldFriend ((Dems inhabit a parallel universe))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
SOUTH FLORIDA TEACHERS UNIONS: CROOKS 'N PERVS? Crook. The head of the teacher's union in Broward, Tony Gentile, was arrested in '01 for child porn. Here's more:

TEACHERS South Florida Boss Pleads Guilty Longtime Broward (Fla.) Teachers Union president Tony Gentile admitted Nov. 30 that he arranged for a sexual tryst with an Internet pal he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Gentile, who resigned last month after 22 years as head of the BTU, faces a likely prison term after pleading guilty to federal charges of attempting to entice a minor into a sex act and sending child pornography over the Internet. Gentile was arrested July 26 in a sting that started four months earlier in Ala. and ended at a Circle K store in Ft. Lauderdale, where Gentile discovered that the girl he had been corresponding with was actually an undercover cop. He was indicted by federal grand juries in Florida and Alabama.

Gentile, 54, who once regarded as a powerful political force in Broward County, took deep breaths as he stood before U.S. Dist. Judge William P. Dimitrouleas (S.D. Fla., Clinton). According to the plea agreement, the ex-union boss would face between 46 and 57 months in prison. However, Dimitrouleas is not bound by that agreement and could sentence Gentile to as many as 20 years at his sentencing in Feb. 2002. Gentile, joined by his wife, declined to comment after the proceedings. He has 2 grown children and one child in high school. Gentile, who led a "politically active" union in the nation's fifth-largest school district, has served on the boards of the NAACP, Nat'l Conference of Christians & Jews, and the United Way.

John Ristow, spokesman for BTU, said the union has made a strong effort to get past the incident, including asking for Gentile's resignation. BTU agreed to give Gentile $140,000 as part of a severance settlement. Ristow said the settlement was only what BTU's attorneys thought was owed to Gentile and what Gentile could potentially recover in court. Ristow said reaction to the payoff has been mixed. "People have come to me and said he should have gotten double the amount of money because he has worked for the union for three decades," Ristow said. "Others say he should get nothing because of what he did." [Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale) 12/01/01]

Source URL: http://www.nlpc.org/olap/UCU3/04_26_36.htm

43 posted on 08/26/2003 10:55:21 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat (I'm so glad to no longer be associated with the Party of Dependence on Government!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson